Battle of Dunholm

The Battle of Dunholm occurred in 880 during the Viking invasions of England. King Guthred sent his commander Uhtred of Bebbanburg, an ealdorman of Wessex, to lead an assault on the fortress of Dunholm, held by Earl Kjartan, Uhtred's blood rival. Uhtred and his adoptive brother Ragnar Ragnarsson, the son of Kjartan's slain rival Ragnar the Fearless, stormed the walls and killed Kjartan and his son Sven the One-eyed, avenging the elder Ragnar's death.

Background
In 871, the exiled Danish shipmaster Kjartan had his former lord, Ragnar the Fearless, killed along with almost his whole family in an attack on Leeds, for which Ragnar's adoptive Anglo-Saxon son Uhtred of Bebbanburg was framed. Uhtred, accused of leading an Anglo-Saxon uprising and of betraying the Danes, was forced to flee to Wessex, while Kjartan was made an earl and given Ragnar's old lands. He built a fortress at Dunholm, which became the seat of his power; his son Sven the One-eyed took Ragnar's daughter Thyra Ragnarsdottir as a prisoner, but he failed to win her heart, as she instead confined herself to a prison cell with several hounds.

In 878, Uhtred was sent north by King Alfred to assist the Danish slave Guthred in becoming the next King of Northumbria, as Abbot Eadred Lulisc had claimed to have seen Guthred become the Christian savior of both the Danes and the Saxons in a vision from Saint Cuthbert. Uhtred was made the commander of Guthred's army once he was crowned King of Northymbre, and Guthred went to war with Uhtred's enemies Kjartan (who had also been the man responsible for enslaving him) and Aelfric of Bebbanburg (Uhtred's usurping uncle), as well as the brothers Sigefrid and Erik Thurgilsson. Guthred ultimately betrayed Uhtred at the behest of Eadred, selling Uhtred into slavery to convince Aelfric to side with him against Kjartan. However, Uhtred escaped in 880, killed Eadred, and was instructed by Alfred to assist Guthred in driving the brothers out of Northumbria. Uhtred instead intimidated Guthred into providing him with an army to finish off Kjartan, threatening to kill him if he refused. Uhtred convinced the brothers to leave after taking Sigefrid hostage, and he then focused on leading the combined army of Guthred, his adoptive brother Ragnar, and his own West Saxon contingent in an assault on Kjartan's fortress at Dunholm.

Battle
Uhtred, Father Beocca, Finan the Agile, Steapa, Aethelwold Aetheling, and Hild took up positions on the east wall of the fortress, as there was an entrance to the fortress by a spring. Meanwhile, Ragnar and Rollo's forces brought up a battering ram to attack the walls. At dawn, Uhtred signalled the main force to attack the gates with their ram, drawing the fire of the archers on the ramparts. Meanwhile, Uhtred and his band attacked a group of soldiers at the spring as they escorted some women to gather water, and they rushed in through the back door. The archers on the ramparts inflicted heavy casualties on the main force, and Brida called in reinforcements from the woods to replenish the shield wall's numbers. Uhtred and his band then charged into the fortress, slaying several of Kjartan's men before Steapa opened the gates to the attackers. The combined forces charged into battle, and, while Sven killed Rollo with a javelin, he himself would be killed by his captive Thyra Ragnarsdottir's hounds. Ultimately, Kjartan challenged Ragnar to fight him in a duel, and both armies formed "the square" to allow the duellists space. After an intense, yet short fight, Ragnar pinned Kjartan to the ground by stabbing him through his hand, and he then proceeded to stab him in the chest and maul his body with repeated dagger stabs until his friends calmed him down.

Aftermath
With Kjartan dead, Ragnar Ragnarsson was given control over the castle, as Kjartan had built Dunholm as the result of his murder of Ragnar's father (who had owned the land until Kjartan murdered him). Ragnar and Brida stayed in the castle as Uhtred and the rest of his entourage returned to King Alfred in Winchester, their task of supporting Guthred being complete, and Alfred and Ragnar's blood feud being resolved.